A complicated, behind the scenes deal to bring an expo
center back to Fort Washington, Pa., has fallen through and, as a result of
that and some other unrelated situations, created roughly 300,000 square feet
of vacant space in one of the biggest buildings in that market.
A 750,000-square-foot structure at 1100 and 1140 Virginia
Drive has seen several of its tenants shrink or vacate, creating large blocks
of empty space in the vast complex.
One of those blocks had reportedly been eyed for more
than a year as a place to revive the Fort Washington Expo Center in what was
essentially its old home, according to several sources familiar with the
arrangement. However, that deal fell through at the end of last year for
reasons that couldn’t be determined.
The landlord, a partnership involving Somerset Properties
Inc. of Lower Gwynedd, Pa., and Greenfield Partners of Westport, Conn., has now
decided to switch gears and move ahead with marketing the space to office
tenants.
Several people, including township and economic
development officials, had joined forces to get the expo center back in Fort
Washington and fill a void that it had created when it left.
The expo center closed in 2006, stunning local officials
and those involved with the center. Many considered it devastating.
The center had been operating out of 290,000 square feet
of the Virginia Drive complex since 1993. Over the years that it was there, the
expo center built up a steady stream of more than 100 consumer and trade shows
and was one of the largest such venues in a suburban location along the
Northeast. It had an annual economic impact of $157 million and accounted for
more than 2,000 hotel room nights in Montgomery County and surrounding areas.
The expo center was a tenant and not an owner of the
building from which it operated and, in early 2006, Liberty Property Trust
bought the Virginia Drive structure. Liberty had arranged for GMAC Mortgage to
lease and move into 450,000 square feet there and that meant the expo center
needed to find a new home.
The displaced expo center eventually relocated off Route
422 in Oaks, Pa. While it has been busy with gun, dog and home shows as well as
Lily Pulitzer sales, not everyone has been happy about that location since it
doesn’t have direct access to the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Blue Route like the
Fort Washington center had, according to various sources. With proximity to
those major interstates, trade shows can more easily draw from a wider area
including New Jersey and Delaware.
With an expo deal no longer in the works, the Somerset
partnership is now seeking to execute on filling the Fort Washington property
with office tenants. The property has struggled since the recession when GMAC
Mortgage was split up.
The first tranche of available space involves about
110,000 square feet at 1100 Virginia Drive, said Mike MacCrory, a broker with
JLL who is marketing the space. Ally Bank and Ditech Mortgage, which were spun
out of GMAC Mortgage, remain in the building but another related, financial
entity vacated the structure.
MacCrory is optimistic that tenants will be attracted to
it. “We already have a ton of prospects for that space,” he said.
Another section of the complex at 1140 Virginia Drive
totaling roughly 200,000 square feet of warehouse space is available and
eventually be redeveloped into office space once the 1100 Virginia Drive space
is backfilled, MacCrory said. In time, even more space is expected to come
available. For example, DeVry University, which leases 100,000 square feet,
only operates out of roughly 10,000 square feet.
The property, once a manufacturing facility for
Honeywell, is ideal for a call center or other similar use because of its
redundant electrical infrastructure, he said, noting that it also has good
access to the turnpike.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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